To Choose a Theme
The best themes add a respectable cohesion to tie the website together. The first set of visuals create an important first impression for others to see, so nailing it will likely entice them to stick around and see what you have to offer (on top of serving quality content to your viewerbase).
If you truly wish to have a fully unique theme, the first consideration would be that you could design it yourself. You would have full control over how the site will look and how things will operate. Not everyone will have the capability of designing a website by hand however, as this not only takes experience working in HTML and CSS but also having the creative eye of a web designer to bring it to life.
Option two then is where you can hire a theme developer to help create the theme you want. You can communicate with your team to design the blog in a way that is most suitable, and can actively update the site as requested. Though a decent option, this is for those who wish to professionally develop the blog into something for long-term use. Hiring a theme developer can also be costly depending on the scale of the website.
Passing on the two options above leads to downloading or purchasing a theme from the various theme directories available. You can find a wealth of themes online that have already been developed, and can tweak the designs so that it fits with the website you have in mind. You will not have the capability of fully tweaking the customization to fit how you want, and you will have to research what the themes provide so that they best fit your website. Other considerations are the need to check for compatibility with your WordPress version and plugins used so that everything works out and there’s no vulnerabilities exposed with the plugin. The WordPress Theme Directory will do for anything up to the current WordPress version, though there are plenty more repositories out there to check around (your mileage will vary outside of the official directory for compatibility however).
Theme Criteria
For a valid WordPress theme, you’re required to have the following files so that the website can function:
- style.css with theme information provided
This is the skeleton of your theme, which allows you to build the basic framework of your website.
- index.php
This file is used by the server to load page content and core WordPress functions, allowing your site functionality and interactivity.
Any other files are necessary to allow your theme to not only customize it but allow your website to differentiate itself from other blogs:
- screenshot.png thumbnail
This simply gives your website tab a recognizable image to set it apart from other tabs. Best to supplement this with a business logo.
- image directory for theme-related images
The directory is for images which the theme will draw upon.
- form and function .php files
This last bit is important if you want to change individual pieces of the blog on the fly or if you wish to add options like animated portions of text/posts/etc. WordPress loads these automatically, but you can separate them so that only individual parts are called upon when requested by WordPress and the website.
The Deciding Factors for the Theme
For my theme, I narrowed my choices to these 5 options:
- Kubio, https://wordpress.org/themes/kubio/
- Lyrna, https://wordpress.org/themes/lyna/
- Author: Writer WDA, https://wordpress.org/themes/author-writer-wda/
- PressBook Masonry Dark, https://wordpress.org/themes/pressbook-masonry-dark/
- Ember Dawn, https://wordpress.org/themes/ember-dawn/
The decision for finding the themes were based on these criteria:
- Low color intensity design
Are the colors for the theme customizable so that the theme does not get in the way of the post content? If not, can it be adjusted so that it can?
- Mobile compatibility
Is the theme outright stated to be compatible with mobile devices?
- Multimedia-focused appearance
Does the theme give importance to multimedia elements? This is the prime criteria for consideration due to the nature of Many Such Fantasy’s content focus.
- Fast, non-intrusive performance
Will the theme load quickly without heavy impact to the user experience or computer performance?
- Theme customization potential
Does the theme provide lots of free options for the user? Are the customization options locked behind a premium purchase? Does the theme require a dedicated plugin to provide more options?
Ultimately, I decided to go with Author: Writer WDA for the current prevailing theme. I am able to adjust the theme so that the colors are easy on the eyes and focuses on the text and image content first and foremost. There’s full responsiveness for mobile and tablet devices, allowing for use with most devices. This theme is primarily focused on multimedia, with a particular focus on books. Since my blog primarily focuses on fantasy media, this serves its purpose to a tee. The site loads quickly and without issue, and provides a wealth of customization options right off the bat. There’s even more customization options with 3 license options (Personal, Business, and Developer), but for now the standard free version will have to do.
I was able to install the theme above by using wp-admin. Once the theme installed and verified, I simply had to activate the theme then customize it in the settings panel to how I desired it to look.